First corn

Now that Simon has mastered his watermelon-eating technique, we've moved on to the next skill: corn on the cob.  I brought home the first batch of the season from the grocery store Friday afternoon. We can't remember if he ate it last year, but at any rate, we had to teach him how to eat it the right way.

It was kind of fun to see how quickly Simon changed his technique once Zac showed him the right way to approach corn on the cob.

Alice also enjoyed eating her corn on the cob, and kept wanting more (after 2 1/2 cobs) but we ran out.

Bath time is family time

Our bathrooms are really small, but there are so many evenings when we are all in there, doing the various stages of tooth brushing, bathing, and drying.  It's actually one of the most pleasant times, since the kids are always so happy playing in the bath. While they're just playing, one of us will go finish packing lunches, clean the kitchen, get the beds ready, pick out clothes for tomorrow, and other tasks that keep the machine humming smoothly. The lucky parent gets to sit in the bathroom and watch the kids.

Simon's first carwash

I took Simon on a walk with me Sunday afternoon in the stroller. When we got back, Zac and Alice were in the midst of washing the vehicles.  Simon immediately knew that this was an operation he needed to be involved in.

Sunday picnic

Because Peppa Pig often goes on picnics, Alice has been asking to have a picnic on a picnic blanket. Since the weather was absolutely gorgeous today, I decided we should just have a picnic in our own back yard. We don't have a picnic basket, so we just packed everything up in a dinosaur bag, which Alice carried.

It was lovely.

Superheroes at Bond Park

On Saturday, we met Grayson and his mom at Bond Park, and Ellie Rose and her mom also joined us for a bit. It was a lot of fun because the kids do a great job playing together now and we parents can just chat and supervise from a distance.

 

It was just luck that they both wore their superman T-shirts.

Simon at the desk

In the mornings, when I go into the bedroom to blow-dry my hair after breakfast, Simon often comes in and does some scribbling at the desk.

The World According to Alice

I always love how Alice brings a fresh perspective to the world around us. Because of her, I'll always think of an upside-down strawberry as a strawberry mountain.  Here are some of her other observations from the week (the ones I remembered to record, anyway.)

"Look, I have a parasaurolompus crest on my head!"

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"Marshmallows! I wish I could have a bed like that."

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When I asked Alice why she was writing the As upside down, she retorted, without any hesitation, "That's because the As are walking on the ceiling." Then, by way of explaining the other random shapes: "Those are constellations." (For the record, she doesn't write her name yet, but she can trace it if I write it for her.)

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"Oh, that man has a watermelon drill and he's laying down on his side and I think he's dead!"

A boy and his train

Simon really likes choo-choo trains right now, or any sort of vehicle, really. He's so cute pushing them around the house.

This particular train falls apart really easily, so I'd been showing him how to put it back together himself. 

My favorite part is when I tell him to turn it around, and he just keeps turning them but somehow it ends up right.

For the love of watermelon

Simon loves watermelon. When Zac takes it out of the fridge to cut it up, Simon cries for it until it is in his hand.

I was tempted to crop the video to reduce Alice's obnoxiousness, but this is the reality, in all it's shining, screaming glory.

Simon!

I snapped this shot of Simon running towards me on the sidewalk.  I love this smiley little guy so much. We are so lucky.

Alice in the big class

Alice has been fully transitioned to the big class for a couple of weeks now. The transition was so drawn out, with her spending longer and longer parts of each day in the new class, that when it was finally complete, we almost didn't notice. Other than one rough drop-off towards the beginning of the process, the transition has been really smooth (as far as we know).  

The big class is literally big.  It's at least twice the size of her previous classroom and has about 25 students. In the old building, it was separated into two classes, but in the new building they have been combined. This is the last class at her daycare, combining kids ages 3-5, in accordance with the Montessori belief that the younger kids can learn from the older kids, and that the older kids also benefit by teaching the younger kids. Or something like that.

She now plays on the upper playground, instead of the same one Simon plays on in back of the building.  She's hard to see in this photo, because she is eclipsed by the gate post, as she runs towards me.

They usually have the kids play outside at the end of the day so they can clean the classroom. Although, we have to walk through the classroom to get to the playground to pick up the kids.

I think one thing that helped is all the new work for Alice to learn in the big class.

Her new teachers are kind and seem genuinely fond of her. Alice always gives her new teachers hugs before leaving for the day, and we often have to go back to her old classroom so she can hug those teachers too.  We feel so fortunate to have a daycare where our kids seem so happy.  It's hard to believe that this time next year we'll be shopping for a kindergarten.

A couple of days ago, Alice queried, "Why is kindergarten not really a garden?"  I suppose it's a good thing she's learning that now, because she would have been mightily disappointed on her first day of kindergarten.

Supper Faces

The kids, after eating supper after another busy weekday.

Shorts!

Today was the first day warm enough for the kids to wear shorts to school.

Alice is holding  Zac's coffee and some gummies that she imagines she's going to eat.

Simon is holding on to my pants, very upset that I put him down to try and get a picture.

Cool

Enjoying the Easter presents

After getting back from Izzy's and taking naps, the kids played in the back yard with their new Easter presents. Both kids love bubbles, and Alice has progressed to the stage where she can sometimes blow them, and sometimes not immediately spill the whole bottle.

Simon demands to have bubbles as well, but he hasn't quite got the hang of blowing them yet: he puts the wand on his lips and we have to keep telling him, "No tasting! Yucky!"  He loves to put the wand in and out of the bottle though, and quickly ends up spilling the whole thing.  He also broke the wand. But, he had fun.

Alice wanted to plant her pea seeds, but in the process managed to spill the majority of them in the pine needles on her way to the dirt plot that we lovingly call her garden.

Simon also had fun with his new chalk. He makes a few lines here and there, but mostly likes to hold it.  I personally loathe their love of chalk and bubbles, because they get so sticky and dusty, but oh well.

I got the hand-me-down tricycle out the attic for Simon recently, but he hasn't quite got the hang of pushing it with his feet yet. You can also see the bubbles (circles) Alice drew on the bricks.

All in all, it was a beautiful day and happy Easter.

Easter egg hunt at Izzy's

Every Easter, one of Alice's classmate's family hosts a big Easter egg hunt and invites the daycare kids and other miscellaneous kids they know.  They have a lot of property, so they section one area off for the little kids to get eggs, and another big field for the older kids to run around and find eggs.

Simon really had the hang of the egg gathering process, and was able to be a little more efficient than this morning since he wasn't holding a butterfly in one hand.

Meanwhile, on the big field, Alice and the older kids ran around and had a good time finding eggs.

Alice's good friend Grayson (who has recently switched to a different daycare) was there, so she had fun playing with him.

 

Simon also enjoyed playing with the toys, such as the water table they set out.

And no spring day would be complete without jumping in a giant pile of leaves and getting covered in dust and dirt.